Honest questions and answers should be talked about as soon as the child asks and can understand the answer. Speaking early about sex gives a child the ease to ask more questions as he/she matures and needs deeper answers and questions.

Grade school is appropriate. Kids are learning things at a faster pace then they were even 20 yrs ago. The internet and technology has a lot to do with that. The sooner kids learn the right way about things, the better off they will be as they grow and develop. Its part of human nature, its who and what we are. It also gives kids better understanding & prevention if they were approached by strangers trying to groom them at an early age. Case in point would be sexual abuse by priests.

When they ask questions. Its also important to not overload them.

Other countries start super early- like, kindergarten equivalent early. I suppose it depends on the maturity of the kid.

all I can say is if my kids asked me anything about boys and girls I just told them the truth. this really tends to happen when they are becoming aware of themselves so that's the best time I think. my parents were the same with me.

At home, as they become curious and/or need to know. By the time a child is in school, he should know basics to his maturity and understanding. Our puritanical love of ignorance is sick and detrimental. When nature is taught normally in life, there is no fear or shame. There is also knowledge to protect oneself in time of need. We keep our pets in eternal adolescence. It is selfish and harmful to do so with our children.

As soon as a child asks. Educating a child about their body is import to well rounded development. I think better body awareness early on leads to better choices once the hormones kick and teens start feeling the peer pressure.

I don't think that is too young for the basics. But more important than anything, I think kids should be aware of their own anatomy and the fact that some people may try to violate their privacy. I didn't know anything about my own anatomy or the male anatomy and that helped me keep silent when crazy shit went down. Nobody told me that it is inappropriate for men to touch you as a young girl in certain ways. So when it happened to me, I knew it felt awful but I didn't know at that age that it was legally wrong. I didn't know that a male might want to be non-sexual friends with me until I was 19 years old. It started in the home and never stopped until I went to college. Its definitely important they we educate kids at least enough that they let us know when someone has crossed that privacy boundary.

Sex ed? That is a tale to tell. Note: my mom was a nurse.

Sex Ed for me was a single class period in 6th grade. It was taught by Mr. Sikorski...ex pro football player. A film projector slide show, and questions afterward. That was in 1978.

Kids are going to have sex? I think it's a load of crap. You have to worry about the adults giving them carte blanche. Then they are pressured.

No girls in a graduating class of 694 students (1985) were pregnant, miscarried, or had abortions. They were smart. The guys were smarter. Maybe rolled around in the hay. Condoms. Give the kids credit.

From my experience in 5/6th grade. I think that's about the time when most kids are starting or about to start puberty.

Anatomy before puberty hits and physiology and sexuality a little later